Does LSD confer lasting psychological resilience? an investigation of naturalistic users experiencing job loss.
PloS one January 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304991 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLifetime use of LSD before job loss is associated with a higher likelihood of severe psychological distress afterward, not with resilience. Analyzing data from over 5 million unemployed, job-seeking individuals, the study found that those who used LSD prior to losing their job reported worse mental health following the stressful experience, even after accounting for sociodemographic factors. This contradicts earlier suggestions that classic psychedelics might confer psychological protection. The findings indicate that, in naturalistic settings, LSD use does not buffer against the distress of unemployment.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 5,067,553 |
| Population | Unemployed, job-seeking individuals experiencing job loss in the United States |
| Keywords | Psychedelics Mental health Unemployment Psychological resilience Drug effects |
| Key finding | LSD use prior to job loss was associated with a higher likelihood of severe psychological distress following job loss, failing to support the idea of LSD-conferred psychological resilience. |
Abstract
Recent studies on classic psychedelics have suggested that their use is associated with psychological strengths and resilience, thereby conferring users a type of psychological protection relative to non-users. However, this idea has been brought into question by recent findings suggesting that lifetime users of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) report worse mental health during stressful experiences. The current study addresses these mixed findings by examining whether LSD use prior to a stressful experience buffers against the psychological distress experienced in the wake of the stressful experience. This study draws on openly-available data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008-2019) on 5,067,553 (weighted) unemployed, job seeking individuals experiencing job loss. Using purposeful respondent exclusion criteria to establish temporal precedence of the variables under investigation, this study offers a straightforward test of whether LSD use confers psychological resilience to naturalistic users. LSD use prior to job loss was associated with a higher likelihood of severe psychological distress following job loss, regardless of whether sociodemographic variables were controlled for or not. In sum, this study fails to find evidence for LSD-conferred psychological resilience in naturalistic users in the wake of a stressful experience.